In the past, an approximate determination of the individual patrons participating in a game of roulette has been effected by the pit supervisors/floor persons. These are employees of the casino who attempt to estimate the average bet of each patron, the number of games per hour and also the time each patron plays at the table, and thus the turnover, profit or loss of the individual casino visitors, through the observation of the progress of the gaming. Disadvantages of this method are the high costs of personnel and the inaccuracy of the determination of the turnover, profit or loss of patrons, the possibility of floor persons favoring one or more patrons but paying no attention to other patrons.
It is the object of the invention to avoid the disadvantages of the known systems and to set forth a method and an apparatus with which the determination of the turnover of individual patrons is possible in a reliable manner.
It is a further object of the invention to determine the win or loss of individual patrons.
It is a further object of the invention to enable the croupier performance to be assessed.
It is a yet further object of the invention to acquire the data required for assessing the patrons turnover and the croupier performance in a relatively simple and reliable manner which does not place an extreme burden on the croupier, but rather helps the croupier with complex win calculations.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description.
Patron Bet and Number of Games
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the total amount bet and the number of games played by an individual patron participating in a game of roulette and playing with chips of a specific nature, for example of a specific coloring or size or shape or pattern, comprising the step of counting the number of chips of that specific nature, which pass through a chipper machine associated with the game of roulette while the patron is playing.
In a preferred method of this kind for determining the total amount bet by the individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table fitted with a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal capable of interpreting data from the chipper machine, from an electronic chip tray and from a roulette number reader, the method comprises the steps of
interfacing the chipper machine to the table terminal
allocating a patron a chip color at the table terminal
counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color
associating the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color with the patron
and determining the total amount bet by that patron by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron
The invention is based on the realization that the number of chips of any particular color sorted by the chipper machine, although not actually a precise measurement of the total amount bet by the patron using that color, is nevertheless closely related to the total amount bet and can thus be used as a reliable indication of the total amount bet. The inaccuracy results from the practice of breaking stacks of chips when paying patrons their winnings, with the non-used chips being returned to the chipper machine. Since the number of chips returned in this way is statistically related to the roulette game, as will be explained later in more detail, it is readily possible to make a statistical correction to the total number of chips of any one color passing through the chipper machine in order to arrive at a total value which is a close approximation to the total amount bet by the individual patron playing with that color of chip.
Since it is possible to assess the total amount bet by each patron playing at the gaming table in this way, it is also possible to sum the total amounts bet by all patrons playing at the gaming table during the period in which a particular croupier is working at the gaming table, and thus it is possible to assess the total turnover achieved by the croupier during each working period.
Patron Win/Loss
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the win and loss of an individual patron during his playing period on a gaming table. The concept for the win and loss capture is to capture all value movements between the patron and the table. Every buy in (drop) with bank bills or markers at the table is entered by the croupier at the table terminal and allocated to the playing position. The same applies to a partial or total pay back of a marker by a patron. The movement of value chips can be estimated by the concept of distinguishing between xe2x80x9cplay chipsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpay chipsxe2x80x9d at the gaming-table. At roulette tables play chips are normally color chips, value chips are used as pay chips.
Whenever value chips are used as play chips for placing bets, the croupier will not handle these chips in and out of the chip tray but rather store them in stacks of twenty like he does with color chips and will handle them the same way as color chips so that they do not hit the chip tray with every spin, i.e. do not change the value of the chips in the chip tray.
Whenever a pay (value-) chip movement is detected by the chip tray, which is equipped with a system for detecting the instantaneous value of the chips on the chip tray, and thus also the change in value of the chip tray for any pay in or pay out, the table terminal prompts a screen asking to croupier to enter the playing position to which the pay chip movement belongs. The monitoring of movements of pay chips into and out of the chip tray together with the capture of all buy ins (drops) and the repayment of markers thus allows the capture of the win/loss per patron. The win loss is the patrons net buy in (drop minus repayment of markers) plus the balance of the pay chips spent and received.
Croupier Assessment
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of estimating the performance of a croupier at a roulette table, comprising the steps of summing, for each period the croupier is working at the roulette table, the various figures captured during each working period.
The performance figures per virtue are combined into a croupier score with a breakdown of individual scores per segment. Data are captured from every dealer work period of in average 45 minutes a dealer works at a table between breaks.
Croupier financial resultxe2x80x94win/loss, turnover, win percentage, drop
Croupier working speedxe2x80x94number of spins corrected for active player positions and chips placed by patrons
Croupier attracting patronsxe2x80x94number of positions active: average, increasing/decreasing during work period
Croupier encouraging playxe2x80x94average bet (relative to table minimum): average, increasing/decreasing during work period
In order to compensate for the influence of the time of the day the performance indicators xe2x80x9ccroupier attracting patronsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccroupier encouraging playxe2x80x9d are relative to all other croupiers on tables at the same time.
The financial result is derived from the total amount bet by each of the patrons participating in the game of roulette during each working period, or during a fraction of that period, wherein the individual patrons play using chips having different colors, the respective colors being associated with each said individual patron, and wherein a chipper machine is provided for receiving chips collected by a croupier during the game of roulette and for arranging the chips according to their color in respective columns, from which the croupier can take stacks of a predetermined number of chips of a respective color, each chip of a particular color having an associated monetary value, the method comprising the steps of counting the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine during the period each individual patron is present at said gaming table, and establishing the total monetary value of the chips of each color passing through the chipper machine.
The above information is of great interest to a casino. For example xe2x80x9cFrequent Player Programsxe2x80x9d are based on the theoretical casino advantage derived from the patron""s bet. Alternatively, if a patron has suffered a significant loss, then the casino is interested in retaining the patron as a customer and may choose to give him a gratuity in some form as a consolation prize.
On the hand, should a patron consistently make substantial wins at a roulette table, then there is always the suspicion that the patron is participating in an unfair practice and the casino is alerted to observe a particular patron carefully.
The casino is also interested in monitoring the performance of the croupier. For example, the number of spins of the roulette wheel per working period and/or the total numbers of chips sorted by the chipper machine during each working period of a croupier is one useful indication of a croupier""s performance.
The ability to determine the amount of win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period is of significant importance to a casino to determine if the croupier is within the statistical pay-out percentage limits over a period of time.
It is known from a statistical analysis of the game of roulette, that there is a built-in house advantage which amounts to 2.7% in the case of French roulette, or 5.4% in the case of American roulette. That is to say, the average win of the casino is 2.7% of the total turnover in the case of French roulette and 5.4% in the case of American roulette. Thus a good croupier can be expected to achieve a net profit for the casino close to 2.7% for French roulette, or close to 5.4% for American roulette. If a croupier consistently achieves a lower return for the casino then there is always the suspicion that he is either not up to the job or is involved in some unfair practice, such as paying incorrect amounts to the patrons when the patrons have won, or so-called section spinning in which the croupier is able to preferentially place the roulette ball in a certain segment of numbers and pockets and thus to benefit patrons to whose attention he has directed this possibility.
The present invention provides the key to monitoring both the total turnover of the croupier and also the win or loss of the croupier and thus, the average percentage win achieved by the croupier.
However, it is not a simple matter to determine precisely the win or loss achieved by the croupier. While this might theoretically be possible by observing every spin of the wheel correctly and by full assessment of every move on the gaming table, the complications that arise would in practice at least slow down the game to such an extent that it would be less profitable, and probably also less interesting for the players. By way of example it is usual for croupiers to work for a working period of 45 minutes and to then take a 15 minute break. Whenever a croupier goes for a break another croupier will take over the running of the table. It would be highly unlikely that the amount of money on the table, i.e. the chips held by the individual patrons, is the same when the croupier starts work as at the end of his working period. Thus, the number of chips held by the patrons represents an imponderable value which prevents an accurate assessment of the win or loss achieved by the croupier during each working period. Nevertheless, the present invention recognizes that a good approximation to the total win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period can be achieved by forming the sum of the total pay-ins by the patrons during that working period and by the change in value of the chip tray. By observing this win or loss over a fair number of working periods, for example a month, it is possible to obtain a statistically reliable assessment of the average win or loss achieved by the croupier as will later be explained in more detail.
As mentioned above, one unfair practice sometimes encountered is for a croupier to be practicing section spinning. The present invention also makes it possible to determine whether a croupier is practicing section spinning by measuring, for a plurality of spins of a roulette wheel, one or more of the following parameters and finding out if these parameters have the normal variance of the average croupier or if this croupier is spinning the wheel and ball in an over consistent pattern:
the initial speed of the ball in the rim of the roulette wheel,
the speed of rotation of the moving roulette wheel when the ball is initially launched into it, and
the relative position of the roulette wheel to the ball and to the segment of the casing in which the ball falls and by mathematically determining whether the estimation of values of the measured parameter corresponds to an expected statistical distinction or shows that a suspicious correlation exists between these values.
Furthermore, the casino management is also able, from the statistics made available by use of the present invention, to determine whether, during a period of high correlation of the said values with one croupier, one or more patrons at the gaming table enjoys with that croupier wins which are significantly higher statistically than the casino advantage for the roulette game being played.
Accordingly, it can be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides the casino management with a variety of tools for assessing the performance of a croupier and the progress of the game of roulette at a gaming table despite the inability to precisely measure each of the factors of interest.
Further advantages and benefits of the invention will be apparent from the further claims. Moreover, the apparatus claims describe preferred apparatus for carrying out the methods described above.